


Phoenix Rising

by 27dragons, tisfan



Series: Tales from the Communal Kitchen (the ex-assassins files) [20]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Comic Book Science, Family Feels, M/M, No Refractory Period, Sex, Super Soldier Serum, using one’s self as a science experiment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-24
Updated: 2017-11-24
Packaged: 2019-02-06 07:43:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12812862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/27dragons/pseuds/27dragons, https://archiveofourown.org/users/tisfan/pseuds/tisfan
Summary: Continuing from the end ofEnd of Tomorrow, when Rikki gave her stepfather a present: the last known remaining vial of the Phoenix serum. After some discussion and debate, Bucky and Tony decided it presented their best chance for a continued long life together. Will it work? And if it does, how will the serum affect Tony?





	Phoenix Rising

“Feels like pistols at dawn,” Rikki said. She stared out over the open testing field. Ellie had careful control of her powers, but she still needed a running start. Which meant they were out in the middle of fuck-all nowhere. According to Rikki’s geiger counter, there was still residual nuclear radiation in the soil, but not enough to harm anyone who was currently standing there, unless they decided to start eating the dirt or something.

“Could be,” her father said. He hadn’t looked away from the spot where everyone else was gathered. Ground Zero.

“Are you--” Rikki hesitated, then put a hand on her father’s arm. “You’re really okay with this?” They all knew the risks, or at least most of the risks. There were always, always side effects to the various supersoldier serums. Zoya had spent weeks studying before she’d agreed to be part of it, scouring the web and pulling up old files and older microfiches. The list of people who had died as part of this experiment, which had netted fewer than thirty complete successes, was very long.

“I’m prepared,” he said, softly. By that, Rikki knew he was thinking of the Judas round in his pistol. If things went the worst they possibly could. “You know I love all of you, right?”

“We know,” Rikki said, carefully not thinking about why he’d chosen to say that now. She touched her comm unit. “Go for Observation.”

***

Rikki’s voice was clear, even through Zoya’s comm unit.

Tony had nothing, just a single pair of cotton briefs. “Good. Let’s get this show on the road,” he said, rubbing at his arms. Getting old seemed to mean being cold all the time even when he had his clothes  _ on _ .

Zoya clicked her tongue at him. “You can still back out, up until Ellie is go,” she said. “You know the risks we’re taking. I just… want to make sure that you’re sure.” 

Wasn’t it supposed to be the younger generation who took risks and the older ones who clucked over the dangers? Well, Tony had never been very good at  _ being safe _ . He leaned over to kiss Zoya’s cheek. “I’m sure,” he promised. “Come on, I’m freezing and Bucky’s probably about to implode with the anticipation.”

Zoya locked the injection mechanism onto his arm; how the hell was that metal even colder than nothing? “Don’t forget, wait until the timer goes off, then remove the device. You’ll have exactly thirty seconds, and then Ellie will start her run. Once she starts, you’re committed. You can abort at any time. Probably.” They weren’t sure what the serum would do without the radiation trigger. No one had ever tested that, and they didn’t have enough to risk even a drop. The animal rights activists would be happy about that, at least, if they ever heard about it.

“Yes, I know. We’ve been over it a dozen times.” Possibly that came out a little testy. What the hell; he was a crotchety old man, at least at the moment. Might as well act the part.

“What happens in the lab and what happens in the field, Mr. Stark,” Zoya said, full on in her Dr. Chaos voice, “are vastly different. There will be pain. If your reactions are drilled into you, you’ll be able to function through it.” She took a few steps away, toward the hoverbike that she would use to get out of Ellie’s initial radiation blast. “I do love you, you stubborn old man.” Well, that was the last time she’d be able to call him that, at least. Probably.

“I love you too,” Tony said. “Stop acting like this is goodbye, for pity’s sake.”

“Ground is Go,” Zoya said into the comm. She hopped on the hoverbike and gave Tony the countdown starter. “See you on the flip side.”

***

Across the field, almost a mile away, Ellie opened her eyes. The countdown timer went off and she stared at her wrist. They were all lying through their teeth, and she knew it. There was no backing out. Even if she Saw something bad happen now, there was no time left to abort.

The timer buzzed on her wrist and she dropped her hands down into a relaxed stance. She took three breaths, called up her power. Final buzz.

Screaming never helped. 

She knew that.

And yet, there was exactly no way she could not. Summoning her nuclear energy was like deliberately grabbing hold of a live wire. Purposefully placing her feet in the fire. Everything hurt, screaming, painfully, ached. Time to go.

Ellie tucked her chin and charged at her father-in-law, controlling speed and power in precise bursts.

She hoped he knew she was probably going to knock him over when she hit and that was going to hurt.

Ellie screamed, ran faster.

***

The explosion rippled across the desert, stirring the grasses and sending up huge clouds of dust. 

Rikki grabbed the radiation injection from her pack and jabbed it in Bucky’s arm before he could move. That she stabbed him first meant she knew he wasn’t going to wait, and she didn’t even ask it of him. Bucky was on the second hoverbike as soon as she’d pulled the needle from his arm. He couldn’t see through the dust and the debris, but only paused to yank the goggles over his head because he would be too impatient to blink his eyes clear when he got there.

Rikki was injecting herself with the anti-rads and would be right behind him. 

The dust was thick, blinding. Smelled strange and wild. He leaped off the hoverbike, letting it spin out of control wildly and tumble to the ground. He ignored it, already searching.

The first body he came across was Ellie’s. He checked to make sure she was breathing and then immediately pushed on, searching.

“Tony?”

Nothing. And then -- soft, so quiet that Bucky wouldn’t have heard it without his enhanced senses -- a whimper, a hitch of breath, and then a whine. There, where the dust was thickest, naturally, and the air was still half-scorched and unbreathable.

Tony was on the ground, curled around himself and shuddering, the occasional groan seeping through his clenched teeth. His skin looked raw, but it was already rippling with accelerated healing, muscles underneath twitching and bulging as they shifted and stretched.

_ He’s alive.  _ Bucky’s heart thudded a few extra times, relief and anticipation. A little fear. There were still so many things that could go wrong. Death, in all honestly, was probably the least of them. But the wild part of Bucky, that was just going to hang on with  _ he’s alive _ . Everything else was a secondary problem for which solutions could be found.

“Tony,” Bucky said, again. “I’m here, baby. You’re alive. We’ve got you.” He reached out, hesitated. Tony was obviously in pain; Bucky barely remembered his own transformation, and it had been born in agony. So white hot and blinding that he had pushed as much of it from his mind as possible. Even Steve had been reborn in the flames. Birth was hard; a rebirth, more so. “Can you hear me?”

“This hurts a lot more than I expected,” Tony said, through gritted teeth. “ _ Ow. _ ” He pushed up on one hand, letting out a long, steady whimper. “It’s like... like every fiber is being re-built from the ground up.  _ Christ _ .” He looked up, then, and looked at Bucky. The steady warm brown of his eyes was flecked through with sparks of gold, like miniature fires. “Hey there.”

Bucky found himself on the ground, suddenly, his legs having given out from under him without warning. He panted for breath. The air was still ugly and dust-filled, even though Ellie had been doing her best to direct the force of the blast. “Kinda is,” he managed to say. He squinted at Tony, trying to assess the damage. Tony’s skin was raw, abraded, bleeding in places. Hard to tell if that was from being knocked bum over teakettle in a nuclear explosion or a side effect of the serum. It was important, and Bucky tried not to flinch by how… stripped and exposed and scorched Tony looked. “I love you.” He swallowed, then, the next necessary question. “How are you… mentally?” Of course, Tony would lie if he’d gone full on Schmidt, and Bucky wouldn’t know until something happened, but they might as well start with asking.

“I’m not feeling any urges to start kicking puppies,” Tony said drily. “The pain is kind of drowning everything out, but-- Oh,  _ oh _ ...” He dragged that out for several syllables, then relaxed, just a little. “Oh, I think my pain receptors just got either overloaded and shut down, or rewritten a little. Suddenly everything hurts a little less. That’s nice, that’s... Huh.” He was looking down at his hands, which still looked sunburned, but whole. They seemed normal, until Bucky realized that they looked  _ younger _ , the frail and wrinkled skin filled out into something more elastic and sturdy. “I hadn’t anticipated  _ that _ .”

“Peak performance,” Bucky said, slowly. He reached out a hand, cautious, then touched the side of Tony’s head. The hair there fluttered around his fingers, then fell out in a patchy clump of mostly white strands. An ache there, that Bucky couldn’t define; so many times he’d threaded his fingers through Tony’s hair, and now the last of it was shedding. Probably a side effect of being nuked, rather than the serum, but who knew at this point? There’d never been an enhancile subject this old before.

“Sure, but I was assuming on a moving-forward basis, not actually backing me up to...” He pushed his own fingers through his hair with considerably more force, leaving a wide swath of his head bald. “ _ Now _ I’m losing my hair?” he complained. “After I managed to keep it all the way into my seventies? Unfair. It’d better grow back. Not that I dislike Ellie’s post-event look, but--” His head snapped around, eyes suddenly sharp. “Where is she? Is she okay?”

Bucky shrugged, gesturing. “Back that way a bit,” he said. “She was breathing. Rishka was right behind me, an’ I ain’t heard a peep, so I guess they’re okay? More worried about you, babe. Can you… do you think you can stand it, if I carry you out of this shit?”

Tony flexed one arm gingerly, then held out his hand to Bucky. “Help me up, and we’ll see. I’m not cold anymore, but I want some clothes. The last time I was this naked in front of three women, none of them were related to me, and it was a lot more fun.”

Bucky offered Tony a hand, and when Tony’s fingers circled around Bucky’s wrist, there was-- “Okay, ease up,” Bucky managed, gritting his teeth. Tony’s grip was a lot stronger than he was used to, than he’d ever been used to. Fighting with Steve, that was the last time Bucky could remember a grip that powerful. The bones in his wrist creaked, dangerously close to triggering all of Bucky’s defensive instincts.

“Oh!” Tony almost let go. “Strength boost, already? Sorry, honey.”

Bucky managed a chuckle. “Well, I killed three scientists inside my first five minutes, and Steve ran a Hydra traitor to ground across half the city, so yeah. You’re doing good, so far. Let me--” Bucky staggered a second, then got his feet under him, Tony cradled against his chest. “-- you need to be in a hospital, now. You’re gaining weight. Which means you’re gonna be hungry, really soon.” 

“Now that you mention it...” Tony’s stomach gurgled. He tipped his head to lean against Bucky’s shoulder with a sigh. “Be glad when the growing pains stop. They’re  _ annoying _ . Let’s go get the girls and make sure everyone’s okay, and then we’ll go back to the medlab and Zoya can poke and prod at me for a while. And possibly get me hooked up to a sugar solution or something.”

“I am going to be very cross with you,” Bucky said, locating his damn hoverbike, “if you end up taller than I am. Jus’ sayin’.” He kicked the bike awake, which rolled over obediently and issued a gentle  _ whump  _ as it came online.

“You’ll get over it,” Tony opined smugly. He kissed the side of Bucky’s jaw. “Though that seems unlikely. Steve’s the only one who actually  _ grew _ with the serum. And the Phoenix solution isn’t quite as potent.”

“Yeah, well,” Bucky said, gently placing Tony in the side-car, “it still enhances everything on th’ inside, an’ ya gotta admit, babydoll, you always had big personality.” He straddled the bike and punched the autofly, too exhausted, relieved, and emotional to bother to fly it himself. The bike would take him to the Quinjet and they would head from from there. Assuming that Tony didn’t flip out in the meanwhile and require any sort of extreme sanctions. He didn’t seem all that much different, but Tony had always had a pretty good handle on his press-face.

_ Please. I’m just asking for one thing in my life to go right. Please don’t take him from me. Not now. _

“Just think how epic our arguments will be when my inner asshole is even bigger than it was before,” Tony mused. He leaned back to look at Bucky critically. “How are you handling things, anyway?”

“I’ll let you know when I finish handling them,” Bucky said. He didn’t know. Fuck, he had no clue. He was shaking inside, on the verge of bursting into tears of relief, or hysterics, he couldn’t tell the damn difference anymore. Just kept pushing forward and deal with what was right in front of him. He didn’t have time or patience or energy for speculating. “Let’s see what the doc’s got to say, yeah?”

***

Tony had been feeding super-soldiers for thirty years, so he knew damn well how much they ate. He’d never fully appreciated the sense of  _ hunger _ , though. He’d always been more or less indifferent to food -- it was necessary fuel, and that was it. Now he was  _ ravenous _ , couldn’t seem to get enough no matter how much he ate. Zoya had assured him it was because his serum was freshly-woken and working hard to overhaul his entire body, as well as healing the damage from Ellie’s nuclear blast. Once he’d hit equilibrium, it wouldn’t be quite so bad.

He hoped he’d hit equilibrium soon. He’d been in the medlab for a couple of hours now, eating almost constantly the whole time, and he was  _ still hungry _ .

At least he had a nice, comfortable isolated room. His senses were improving -- sight, hearing, sense of smell -- but the neural receptors were only catching up to that growth in fits and starts, so at random intervals, everything would suddenly seem searingly bright, or he’d be able to hear a fly buzz in the next room and be unable to tune it out, or the scent of the medical soap by the sink would make him want to rip out his sinuses. The isolation room helped, if he kept the door closed and the lights turned low.

It was all a waiting game, now. Steve had emerged from his cocoon fully-enhanced, but the Phoenix serum was slower. Less powerful, but less likely to rip the body apart with the effort of growth. Tony had read the files.

He leaned back against the pillows and stroked the sheets under his fingers, and it was probably his overactive imagination that made it seem like he could feel individual threads, right? He wished Bucky were here to help distract him, but he’d sent Bucky off to decontamination and a shower. Of course, the nearest shower was only a couple of rooms away; if Tony strained, he might be able to hear whether the pipes were running. There was no way Bucky would stay away any longer than absolutely necessary. Tony cocked his head and tried to focus on his hearing.

For a long time, there was nothing. Or, not  _ nothing _ , nothing would have been easy. There were the sounds of his own breathing, the rush of blood in his veins, the movements of fan and the whirr of hospital machinery to filter through. Then, as if concentrating made the adjustments faster, or more focused, Tony could hear water running.

No other sounds for a long moment, just the splatter of water coming from a showerhead, splashing against a body, slurping down the drain. No movement, no change in the tempo. As if the person standing under the shower was slumped, unmoving, just letting the water wash over them. 

Tony cocked his head, listening harder. The water fell, quite a long ways, actually, before it was striking down. Not on a standing body, but on one sitting, curled up, perhaps, in the bottom of the shower. Arms wrapped around knees, water pouring over a bowed head. 

Well, if nothing else, his imagination was getting a workout.

Then… a deep, hitching breath and very soft, a whisper-shiver-moan. A muffled sob. Then another. No point denying it any further; Tony would recognize that voice anywhere. Bucky was crying, sounds muffled against his arm, shaking so hard that Tony could hear the individual plates in his arm vibrating. Sobbing himself sick.

Tony climbed out of the hospital bed and looked at himself in the mirror. He looked pretty normal, though a lot younger than he’d appeared that morning. But no Red Skull-esque deformities. He considered his mental state. Still no desire to kick puppies or take over the world. (He was pretty sure if he  _ did _ take over the world, he’d be better at running it than most of the idiots currently in charge, but he’d felt that way  _ before _ he’d had a hit of super-soldier serum, too. It just seemed like it would not be fun at all.)

Was there something wrong with him that he hadn’t realized yet? Zoya wouldn’t tell Bucky any results that she hadn’t already told Tony; she was a scrupulous doctor. What if she  _ had _ told him and he’d forgotten. Was he experiencing memory loss or fugue states?

...No, he was pretty sure he could account for every minute of time during the trip back home and afterward. He could account for it, when he thought about it, in excruciating detail, actually, and that was an ability he was going to have to examine  _ later _ , because  _ his husband was crying _ and he  _ didn’t know why. _

He pushed open the door, and followed the sound, eventually finding himself in an unoccupied room. Bucky must have ducked in here to shower and change after the decontamination. He wouldn’t have wanted to go all the way up to their penthouse. The bathroom door was closed, and even before the serum, Tony would have been able to hear the water splashing from here.

Bucky already knew he was here -- Tony had learned decades ago that there was no sneaking up on Bucky, and given the state of his hearing right now, he could understand why -- so Tony just knocked lightly on the door. “Babe?”

A series of clicks, and then Tony was tugged inside the bathroom. Recognizing immediately that everything should have turned into a blur of motion, that his inner ear should have taken a second to recalibrate, that he should have been startled, motionless for an instant, and wasn’t. He could see everything; not like slow motion in the movies or anything, but like there was enough space in his head to see and feel and notice everything. All at once. Bucky was a tangle-haired, red-eyed wreck, dripping wet and looking like a sad kitten, but upright and pulling Tony into his arms. The room was full of steam, hot and cloudy and a little warmer than Tony usually prefered his water, but on his fresh, reborn skin, it felt soothing. Amazing, really. The smells, shampoo and soap and water and underneath was metal and the dark scent of Bucky’s own skin, amplified by the heat.

“ _ Tony _ ,” Bucky said, breathing the word out like a prayer. He tucked his face against Tony’s throat, inhaling, then let it out. “You’re not s’posed t’ be out of bed yet.”

Tony worked his fingers into Bucky’s dripping-wet hair, scratching lightly (he hoped) over Bucky’s scalp. “I’m not staying in bed like a good little experimental monkey when you’re upset, honey.” He kissed Bucky’s temple and felt the pulse beating under the skin there. “What’s up?”

“I’m okay,” Bucky said. He shivered under Tony’s touch. “Jus’... lettin’ it all out. Was prepared t’ do what was necessary; didn’t mean I…” He hitched in another breath, let it out. “Mighta had to shoot you today, babe. I ain’t ever gonna take that lightly.”

Oh, thank god. Tony sagged in relief. “Okay,” he said. “Okay, I get that, that’s... That’s okay.” He nuzzled at Bucky’s temple and hairline some more, breathing in the scent and letting his terror seep away. “As long as it’s not about something that  _ did _ happen. I can live with that.” He rubbed at his mostly-bald head. “Zoya thinks all my hair will come back,” he added, just to keep talking, to give Bucky something to hold to. “Which is good, because I look  _ terrible _ without eyebrows. Pepper will have to teach me how to draw them on for a while, I guess. And not having a beard make me look about sixteen again, I swear. There was a  _ reason _ I grew that thing, ug.”

“I don’t care what you look like, babydoll,” Bucky said. “Jus’... don’t wanna lose you. I’m not ready for that, not yet.” He ran one hand down Tony’s arm, fingers trailing across the muscle. “Look at you, though.” He poked, experimentally, at Tony’s stomach, fingers tracing the lines of the muscle there. The last two decades or so, Tony’d gotten even more noticeably less fit than the rest of the Avengers. It was a side effect of getting old, he was used to it. “I mean… have you  _ looked  _ at yourself, babe?” 

“Just to make sure I hadn’t turned into something weird and gross,” Tony admitted. He looked around, snatched up a towel and wiped the condensation off the mirror so he could look.

Apparently, he hadn’t been exaggerating that much about looking sixteen again. His body hadn’t been this well-built since. Well, ever, but the closest he’d come was probably his early twenties, when he’d been young and full of energy. The lack of hair was a little strange, but he’d seen worse. It looked like someone had hit him with some kind of de-aging spell. “That’s... impressive.”

Bucky came up behind him, finger-combing his hair back from his face. There was… a distinct difference. Bucky’s face, which had always looked so youthful and smooth, had a distinct maturity; his jaw was more square, the high cheekbones were more mature. Looking at them in the mirror, Tony felt a distinct sense of reversal: that his husband, who’d always looked so very much younger, was now, on the surface, almost twice Tony’s age.

“Did I just go from ‘old man’ jokes to teenager jokes?” Tony wondered. “On the plus side, now that media will all think  _ you’re _ the one robbing the cradle.”

“Always was,” Bucky said. “Always been older than you. Just look it, now. My god, Tony, you look  _ like a kid _ .” There was a brief wince there, then Bucky stroked down Tony’s back with one fingertip, all the way to the small of his back. “God, you are  _ beautiful _ .”

And oh, that light touch felt like  _ fire _ under his skin -- the good kind, this time. The kind that made him shiver, that lit up his nerve endings and pooled lightning in his groin. “Bucky...” He turned around and pushed up onto his toes to capture Bucky’s mouth in a kiss.

“Yeah?” Bucky’s voice was low, pitched rough. His hands were wandering, as if he couldn’t touch enough, down, across Tony’s shoulders, along his back, grabbed a handful of Tony’s ass and yanked him closer. “Feelin’ a little frisky?”

“No, I am feeling a  _ lot _ frisky,” Tony said. “Everything feels...  _ more _ .”

Bucky flicked his tongue across Tony’s lip, teasing. “So… was that a request to take Tony Stark Mark II for a test drive?”

“Hell yes. Let’s blow this popsicle stand.” Tony tugged on Bucky’s arm, pulling him toward the hall. As a rule, when Tony pushed or pulled at Bucky, nothing much happened except that Bucky got a hint about where Tony wanted him. But if Bucky wasn’t ready to move, then Bucky did not move.

Tony’s playful tug, though, made Bucky stagger a couple of surprised steps forward. Tony paused, staring at Bucky, who stared back at him with wide eyes.

“That’s… new,” Bucky said. Swallowed hard, and straightened up, slowly. His spine wasn’t the only bit of him upright, either. “Oh, my… god.” 

Tony stared. “I can  _ move _ you,” he breathed. “Oh... Oh, this is going to be  _ fun _ .” He crowded Bucky back against the closed door and  _ lifted _ , pushing Bucky back against the door and wrapping Bucky’s legs around his waist. “Oh  _ god _ ,” he said, grinding up against Bucky’s body. “So, so much fun.”

Bucky whined, writhed against him. Stared down at Tony, cheeks flushing. If not quite helpless in Tony’s grip, at least completely at Tony’s mercy. Bucky twisted, stropping his entire body against Tony’s, then threw his head back, offering his throat the same way Tony had done for him, for decades together. “Tony, please,” he whimpered.

God,  _ god _ , that was gorgeous. Heady. No wonder Bucky liked to manhandle Tony so much. He scraped his teeth along Bucky’s throat and sucked up a bruise. “Yeah, baby,” he promised. “Let’s take this upstairs before someone comes along, yeah?” He rocked up, bodies sliding together a few times, teasing himself as much as Bucky, feeling the crackle of that heat all along his spine, before finally letting Bucky slide back to the floor. “Maybe I’ll make you scream, for a change.”

Bucky got his feet under himself, wobbling a little. “Why is it that  _ you’re  _ the one with th’ new body, an’ _ I’m _ the one walkin’ around naked in th’ halls?” He glanced up at the nearest camera. “Clear us a path, yeah, J?”

“I’m only in sweatpants.  _ Wet _ sweatpants,” Tony protested. “Would it make you feel better if I got naked first, too?”

“May I recommend the south corridor stairs, sirs?” JARVIS suggested.

“If you get naked now, I promise we won't make it t’ the south stairs,” Bucky said. Bucky twined his fingers with Tony’s and, trusting Jarvis to protect their dignity -- what little remained -- led Tony up to the penthouse.

Tony kicked off the sweats as soon as the door was closing behind them, and nudged Bucky back toward the bedroom. Christ, he felt like he was going to explode  _ any second _ . Was this how Bucky felt, all these years? Making love to his frail old self must have been like  _ torture _ ; caution and delicacy were the furthest things from his mind. “Need you,” he said, already frantic with desire, “need you  _ now _ .”

Bucky went to his knees in front of Tony, hand on Tony’s hip. “Now,” he agreed. He paused just long enough to stare up at Tony before tilting his neck and licking at Tony’s cock, so nice and on display for him. “Grab some wall, baby.” Bucky opened his mouth and took Tony in. No more teasing, no time for flirting or build up, just hot, wet, slick. His tongue pushed up, rubbed against the sensitive underside, throat working. His breath was heated, quick pushes as he worked.

“Oh,  _ fuck _ ,” Tony groaned. He leaned back against the wall because otherwise his knees were going to give out. The enhanced sense of touch was  _ not _ his overactive imagination, because Bucky’s blowjobs were  _ phenomenal _ but they were  _ not like this _ . “Oh,  _ Christ _ , Bucky, baby, is this even  _ real _ ?” He threaded his fingers through Bucky’s hair and reminded himself, barely, not to pull or yank, because he still had no idea how much stronger he was.

There weren’t words for how it felt; all Tony knew was that Bucky’s mouth was a blissful torment that ratcheted his need higher with every movement, every little thrust, every brush of tongue. There was no question that this was going to be over very quickly, which itself was a bit of a novelty after a couple of decades of an aging body that had to be coaxed into performance.

Bucky didn’t seem to care. God, the noises he was making. Stuttering groans and eager whining sounds came out of his throat, vibrating against Tony’s skin. His hands were everywhere he could reach, fingers teasing Tony’s nipple erect before lowering to dance sensation down his back, across the globes of his ass. Bucky yanked, pulling one of Tony’s legs over his shoulder to get a better angle and Tony realized he had to  _ let  _ Bucky move him. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to, it was more forgetting… how strange it was. 

And then he lost that thread, because Bucky was pressing against his hole, teasing at Tony’s ass. “Oh, god,” Bucky said, pulling back and gasping for air. “God, Tony.... come on, baby...” He wrapped the metal arm around Tony’s waist, the plates clicking, scraping against the skin there, a slice of hot pain, then healing with a soothing buzz. Bucky’s fingers pushed at his ass, encouraging him to thrust. His throat opened and let Tony in.  

“Bucky!” Two more thrusts and Tony was coming, the world melting around him as the unbearable ache in his balls overflowed into relief and a cool shiver. When Bucky pulled away, licking his lips, Tony couldn’t help but drop to his own knees and pull Bucky into a kiss, licking into Bucky’s mouth to chase the taste of himself. “Oh, god, baby...”

“Yeah? That was good?” Bucky asked, running his thumb over Tony’s lip. Like he didn’t know, the smug bastard. He continued down, stroking Tony’s chest and… “Ah-ha, there we are…  _ my  _ supersoldier.” And Tony had to look down, to see what Bucky was talking abou-- oh.  _ Oh. _

“Oh my god,” Tony said, even though he was beginning to feel a little like a broken record. “I haven’t done that for fifty years.” And even then, it hadn’t been so fast, so easy. He didn’t feel even a little oversensitive. He felt ready to go again. “Ohhhh, so many things are so much clearer now,” he laughed. At least it wasn’t quite so  _ desperately _ urgent this time. He pulled Bucky into a kiss. “Your turn?”

Bucky curled around him, practically purring. “Whatever you want, babydoll,” Bucky said. “I c’n take you there, couple times, if you want. Looks like you’re good f’r it. Let you hold me down an’ fuck me. Hmmm?” Bucky’s voice was like raw whiskey, harsh and intoxicating, his hands not quite gentle anymore, metal fingers teasing along Tony’s throat, over his bare scalp. “Come on to bed, baby. Come on up.” Urgent, drawing Tony upward with teasing kisses, his stormcloud eyes wild with longing.

Tony let (let!) Bucky pull him up and lead him to the bed. They fell onto it together, bodies tangling together, legs and arms and the grind of cocks and press of fingers, too frantic to do anything like  _ take it slow _ . Tony eventually managed to squirm free and wriggle down the bed to get his own mouth on Bucky’s cock. He could smell the beading precome, and it drove him crazy in the best ways; he  _ needed _ to taste it. He flicked his tongue across Bucky’s slit, then pinned Bucky’s hips down and went to work.

Bucky strained against him, trying to get them closer, and eventually fell back on the bed, panting for air. “God…” he managed between clenched teeth. He arched up, pushing himself against Tony’s mouth, against his tongue, begging and pleading in moments. “Tony, oh, god, your mouth, baby, so… so sweet.” 

Tony had a great familiarity with his husband’s body, his ridiculous refractory period which had ranged from  _ yes, again, please _ to  _ maybe I can wait a few minutes _ , but he was getting a first hand look -- so to speak -- at how that affected Bucky. It wasn’t just that Bucky’s taste was in his mouth, or that Tony had just come himself, but he was already hard and aching and rubbing it out on Bucky’s leg, just from the smell and taste of Bucky. No  _ fucking  _ wonder. 

Oh, god, if just smelling Bucky was going to do this to him, they weren’t going to leave the bed for  _ days _ . Possibly  _ literally _ . “Give it to me, honey,” he begged, and licked around the head of Bucky’s cock like an ice cream cone. “Need you to come for me, need to taste you.” He took Bucky in again, then, as deep and as far as he’d ever managed. It seemed to be cheating, somehow, to use this miracle for sex, but sex with Bucky  _ was _ a miracle, and had been since the very first time. He concentrated, let himself feel nothing but the hot slide of Bucky against his tongue, and took it deeper into his throat.

“Oh, god, Tony,” Bucky moaned his name, trembling under him. “Oh, yeah, that’s… Tony!” Bucky inhaled, sharp, and then let it out in a fierce, eager cry, flooding Tony’s mouth, jerking and shivering with the sensation. “Yeah, that’s… oh, god.” He was squirming and restless as Tony licked him down, then lay still, beckoning for Tony to come up, pressed body to body, cooling rapidly. “Oh, my god.”

“Mmmm.” Tony nuzzled at Bucky’s mouth and neck, body still thrumming and needy. “God, I’m-- How did you  _ do _ this, all those years?”

Bucky laughed, light. “With great power, comes great responsibility.”

“I feel like it’s going to take at least three rounds to get to  _ barely satisfied _ ,” Tony groaned.

“It’ll ease up, a bit,” Bucky said. “I cranked it raw, first time I remembered I  _ could _ …” There was a strange sort of nostalgia there. “I’m left handed, you know. Broke your shower, in your guest rooms… least you got me. It’ll go okay, baby. I can take whatever you can dish out.”

“Wait.” Tony pushed up onto one elbow, staring at Bucky. “ _ That’s _ how you broke the shower? Jerking it too hard?” He collapsed onto the bed, laughing. “Oh my god, thirty years, I’ve thought you had some kind of episode, or...” He giggled again, helpless. “You broke the shower trying to learn how to rub it out with the wrong hand.”

Bucky flushed, cheeks turning pretty-pink. “Don’t know why I never tol’ you that before,” he said. “It’s always been you, for me.” He touched Tony’s cheek, traced the line to his mouth. He used his thumb to keep Tony’s mouth where he wanted it, stole a kiss, then a second one, light and warm, teasing at Tony’s mouth with his tongue. “You wanna go again, or d’you need food, first?”

Tony considered that. “...Yes?” This super-soldier diet thing was going to become a headache, he could tell. It was very inconvenient, being hungry  _ again _ . Already. When he just wanted to hunker down and have marathon sex with his extremely hot husband for the next eight to ten hours. “I need to invent some way to eat and fuck at the same time,” he muttered.

Bucky laughed again, and Tony thumped him with the pillow. “Nah, I got it, babe. J, send Dobs up with a tea tray? You might notta ate much for the last half of your life, but I got this down to a  _ science _ .” He stroked down Tony’s flank, patting his thigh. “Come on, we c’n go another round and then have a snack-break.” He snuggled up to Tony, kissing him again, tempting, stretching out under Tony’s body.

Tony wasn’t sure if it was the keyed up senses, or the newness of everything all over again, but Bucky looked truly relaxed, at ease, just waiting for whatever Tony wanted. Wanting whatever Tony wanted.  

“God, I love you,” Tony breathed, and pushed Bucky over onto his back. “Another round, hm?”

***

Tony stared at the ceiling. It continued to be a ceiling.

Beside him, Bucky was dead to the world, breath spilling soft and warm over Tony’s shoulder, a rhythm that had been Tony’s lullabye for decades now. But it wasn’t working. He didn’t feel the slightest bit sleepy.

_ Tired _ , yes. He’d lost track of how many rounds they’d gone, but he knew for sure they’d been at it for  _ hours _ . Bucky had finally begged for a nap before picking back up, and it had seemed like a good idea to Tony, too, panting and worn down...

But he couldn’t sleep. Too keyed up from the events of the day? Maybe. Maybe he was just due another bout of insomnia; they occurred from time to time and he didn’t think they were the sort of thing the serum would be able to fix.

He could get up and go work, but he’d mostly broken himself of that habit eight or ten years ago, when he’d started being faced with his own mortality. It had become much more attractive an option, when he couldn’t sleep, to stay here and watch Bucky, to feel that warmth beside him... It usually cured the insomnia.

Tony sighed and turned over, re-fluffing his pillow. God, this was annoying.

What if that was a side-effect of the serum? Had it mixed with the last hit of stim still in his bloodstream and conspired to take sleep away from him altogether? He should ask Zoya, see if she had any guesses.

Not now, of course. Sane people were sleeping now.

Of course, Tony lived with the Avengers, not sane people.

He kissed Bucky’s shoulder, and rolled out of the bed. “Let him know where I’ve gone when he wakes up, J.” He pulled on a bathrobe and padded on bare feet down toward the common areas to see who was out and about.

He discovered his daughter-in-law in the kitchen, just taking out a full rack of prime rib, crusted with garlic butter. “Hey,” she said, smiling. They could practically have been reflections of the other, both bald and eyebrowless, wearing bathrobes and sneaking around the kitchen at ridiculous o’clock in the morning. “Looks like my timing’s still good.” It always had been, really, for as long as Tony had known the woman. “There’s rolls in the basket. Thought you might like some carbs and protein.” 

“Apparently, this is my life now,” Tony said. He got the basket and brought it to the counter, and then went to the fridge for barbeque sauce. “So, crazy thing -- I can’t seem to get to sleep. You have any idea if that’s a permanent thing or...?”

“Hmmm,” Ellie said. She pulled out a knife and sliced off a few pieces of the prime rib. “Here, eat, and I’ll take a peek ahead, if you want. Been keeping an eye on you so long now, it feels a little weird that you’re not in my head.” 

Tony lifted his eyebrows at her even as he sunk his teeth into the ribs. “Wha’s that mean?”

Ellie stared at him for a minute. “You didn’t know? You’re the most important person in the building. I’ve been… keeping track.” 

Tony snorted. “You, Bucky, JARVIS, Sasha... That’s a lot of babysitters for one old man. Anyway, I don’t see why you’d need to stop. Especially if I’m headed down the path of a psychotic break from lack of sleep.” He said that cheerfully, as he smeared butter on a biscuit.

“Well, I have more uses than just a doomsday clock,” Ellie said, pertly. She stared at him again, her eyes doing that flaming thing, swirls of orange flickering in her gaze. She appeared almost mythical, a seeress of old as she peered past him, and into the future. The lack of eyebrows really did it; honestly.

She settled back into her chair and picked up a roll. “You want the bad news, or the good news?”

“Always hit me with the bad news first,” Tony said. “That way I can get the panic attack out of the way early.”

“You… are never going to sleep again,” Ellie said, flat, emotionless. Fact. 

He’d had a feeling. Yeah. “Okay. And the good news?”

“Necessity is the mother of invention,” Ellie said. “You’ll solve it. You might have a rough few months, while you adjust. But it won’t kill you, and you  _ probably  _ won’t hurt anyone. And you can still stim, but I’d take it easy with those. Learn to breathe through the exhaustion until you do.”

Tony made a face at her. “That’s the  _ good _ news, huh?” He sighed and rubbed at his face. “Well. I’ll just think of it like a long-term bout of insomnia, I guess. Maybe my productivity will get a good spike.”

Ellie gave him a quick, brilliant smile that lit up the whole room. “You’ll be fine. It’ll be worth it.”

“Yeah?” He licked the last meat off the bone he was holding and dropped it onto his plate. “Well, trusting you has historically gone pretty well. Guess I’ll give it a go.”

**Author's Note:**

> We sincerely hope all our American readers enjoyed their Thanksgiving and didn't kill any of their relatives!
> 
> We still can't quite leave the Kitchen behind, so here's a little bit of what happens in the new future (especially after I gave you what happened in the old future recently!!)
> 
> We've got a couple of bits and bobs floating around -- a complete but unedited smut bit, and a few stories that might gel up. Let us know if there's interest for an Ellie/Rikki solo story, because there are some ideas there, too...
> 
> Have a good December!


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